July 22, 2011

While there is much about migraines that will forever elude her control — weather changes, for example, can trigger terrible headaches — managing migraines involves a lot of meaningful decision-making.

So... like... being President involves a lot of meaningful decisision-making, so... how you deal with headaches is a test of what kind of President you'll be.

Warner observes that the Bachmann campaign has only disclosed that she takes medicine to prevent migraines and medicine to relieve migraines. But what medicine? And how much?

I’m not a doctor, but reports that Mrs. Bachmann’s condition had her admitted to an urgent care facility three times in six months suggest that she is perhaps suffering more than she has to. It’s fair to ask: Is she getting the best possible care from doctors who practice mainstream science? Does she fully acknowledge the reality of having a chronic disability by regulating her diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels, as frequent migraine sufferers must? Or does she refuse to acknowledge her limitations?

In the absence of information about the preventive steps she is taking to, as she puts it, control her migraines, we are left with the impression that it’s the migraines that control her.

Are we left with that impression? Or do we just think she has a common affliction and — her achievements reveal — she deals with it well.

Warner seems to be applying a liberal political template to Bachmann's headache issue: She shouldn't just rely on pills (like a right-winger dealing with problems through military force and tough prison sentences). She should regulate all aspects of her life: diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels (like a left-winger with endless regulations and social programs).

Dealing with a migraine is now quite the same as dealing with a pain in the ass--congress- but I am impressed with how quickly she put out a letter from the doctor. Go Bachmann and continue to lead the Republican Party.

The bizarre part of this controversy, as Steve Sailer recently pointed out, is just how diligenty the press has refused to vet mental health issues when it comes to President Obama.

From Sailer's post:

So, I'm all for the press inquiring into every candidate's health.

But, that mean's every candidate -- not just the ones the media doesn't like -- all the candidates, like JFK and Barack Obama. As you may recall, John McCain released 1100 pages of his medical records, while Barack Obama released a one-page summary. It appears to me from reading Obama's memoirs that the President suffered some sort of mental health problems in the early 1980s and in 2000. Did he seek medical attention?

Remarkable lack of curiosity in the case of President Obama, isn't it?

Is she getting the best possible care from doctors who practice mainstream science? Does she fully acknowledge the reality of having a chronic disability by regulating her diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels, as frequent migraine sufferers must?

The problem with the prophylactic drugs is that they have side effects, like making you completely exhausted (beta blockers) or making your hair (my hair) fall out (depakote, lamictal). The only good one is topamax, which can cause weight loss (weight gain comes with others), but for some people, like me, none of the prophylactics actually prevent headaches. All side effect, no therapeutic benefit.

There is only so much a person can do to control the electrical activity of her brain. Most of us who get migraine don't like being in pain and certainly don't like the $25 apiece (retail - thank goodness for good insurance) painkillers, so do do all we can to prevent headaches. The writer of the article is an idiot to suggest Bachmann is not doing enough to prevent the problem.

Man 'O Man, the DETAILS the MSM WANTS--nay, DEMANDS--to know about a conservative candidate's background. No stone left un-turned, etc. But Obama's background? "Studied indifference." NOTHING but crickets chirping..,but why do I or any other person "on the right" even bother anymore. Since 2000 at the very least the mask of fake "neutrality" has been ripped off and the fangs and claws bared. The MSM is in a full-court press 24/7--steel-cage ladder-match style-- to slime all conservatives both political and otherwise. They REALLY DO believe they have the moral high-ground and thus feel free to unload on the right without fear of alienating the swing-voting independents due to what they. imo, believe has been the successful marginalization of the right as the dwelling place for all the crazies, racists, Islamophobes/homophobes, Jesus freaks and knuckle-dragging intellectual know-nothings.

At least that's their meme "and their stickin' to it." Whether they have been successful or not doesn't matter. The left/MSM obviously believes their cause is righteous and they're NOT going to let up and, cloaked in what they feel is moral superiority, have no qualms whatsoever about using any means necessary to destroy the right. Conservative candidates better get used to it and master some coping mechanisms--as opposed to defensively, reflexively, continuously saying the equivalent of "AM NOT!"

I agree with the liberals that sex and race are pervasive forces in American life. These forces are so pervasive that not even liberals, with all their hard won sanctity, are without sin. Here is their subliminal argument: Women are delicate creatures whose hormonal imbalances cause crippling debilities and irrational judgements. The migraine headaches of that poor dear, Michele, are caused by post menopausal PMS. There are women such as Hillary who have transcended sexual stereotypes, but it is far better that a weak creature like Michele stay in the kitchen and take care of her thirty kids.

I get what I call sinus headaches, but doctors have called migraines, particularly when the weather is changing. One thing I've learned about them is that everyone is very different about what helps them. For me, I tried medication (Topamax), which helped but made me mentally sluggish. I decided that I didn't want to struggle with side effects beyond that, so I don't take anything for them any more, but I've learned that a certain combo of OTC painkillers helps a lot, along with chewing (the jaw action seems to help), hot and spicy liquids, and eating. Taking allergy medications seems to help as well.

As long as Rep. Bachmann is doing her job, and it appears that she is, this is an incredibly stupid issue to fake concern about.

Bachman has a full plate what with her job, her numerous children, congress and a run for the POTUS nomination. Like Palin, she is the epitome of a standup, unapologetic, smart, educated, female who works hard with no handouts from a misogynist government.

Women such as these should be celebrated and not vilified. Instead, they are a red flag in front of the neutered beast that is the democratic party of the likes of Debbie Wasserman- Schultz. Women such as Palin and Bachman are the democrat/progressive's worst nightmare.

Doesn't "urgent care facility" just mean a 24-hour clinic that's open when your doctor's office isn't? Or that takes people from out of town who can't get to their doctor? "Urgent" doesn't necessarily mean "serious."

We tried medicine, but the side effects were worse than the headaches. Sluggish, doofus actions and dangerous hampering of hand eye coordination.

So we started keeping track of what was happening in the days before the headaches and what we were eating.

Turns out that he is allergic/sensitive to nitrates, sulfides and preservatives, such as those used in salad bars to keep the lettuce from turning colors. Once we figured out the forbidden foods or to only eat in small quantities, the headaches have not returned except for a rare episode or two.

Foods we avoid or reduce when they have chemicals. Commercial restaurant salads, beef jerky, some kinds of salami, processed meats like some brands of ham and lunch meats, processed cheeses - those fake slices of cheese (yuck anyway), cheeses with colorants added to make it orange and especially red wine (more than a glass or two).

"She shouldn't just rely on pills (like a right-winger dealing with problems through military force and tough prison sentences). She should regulate all aspects of her life: diet, sleep, exercise and stress levels (like a left-winger with endless regulations and social programs)."

So is it the con-lib/lib-con/neo-lib folks who implement the best aspects of both strategies?

Althouse will need to question the other side of the dinner table to find out.

There's a lot of things wrong with the GOP, or it wouldn't be called the stupid party, for nothing.

One of the biggest failures ... (and this goes back to 1974 ... when Gerry Ford was given the pass to election day on his own. And, he lost to a peanut farmer. Proving yet again, people will pick the "unknown." When a very lackluster republican runs at the top.

It's also full of pork barrel specialists.

And, it's the pork barrels that Congress is fighting over, now.

Does this mean Obama "could" win? Sure.

Bachmann? In your dreams, perhaps.

And, Sarah Palin? If she runs as an Independent, it will mean we will see a 3-way race. And, in such a case? I'd expect the stupid party to learn nothing! And, to come in, as well, in 3rd place.

Isn't Michelle Bachmann trying to show she "owns" the religious zealot votes? And, Sarah Palin is not making a grab to move to her right.

In any military battle it pays to have more than one division. (Politics, being divisive, right off the bat ... says there are always going to be "Divisions.")

But Lincoln, going back in time, understood something. ALL of his competitors ... and there were 3 or 4 ... were "favorite sons." They had backers ... but it didn't run deep enough. And, behind the scenes, it was Lincoln who figured out how to do "the new politics."

One of the things Lincoln did, was build a national reputation. With his Lincoln-Douglas debates going beyond local events ... and, into newspapers ... (where the new technology was the telegraph) ... Lincoln also compiled it all ... and published! Douglas, running as the democrap, would travel all over ... and, still lose.

As others have said - when the MFM puts half as much interest into questioning Little Black Jesus' known history of snorting coke, blowing weed and chain-smoking cigarettes, then I'll care about Bachmann's headaches.

...a Tea Partier, obviously crazed by Obamacare, just blew up a government building. Total killed and injured unharmed, but you can be sure that it was crazy right-winger driven to act violently by conservative talk radio.

But so far it hasn’t revealed the details of her preventive treatment — and has done whatever it could to divert attention from the fact that such treatments often consist of first-generation antidepressants and other psychotropics.

This is either knowingly false or very poor research. This article was written on July 21, but the Bahcmann campaign had already released a letter from her doctor on July 20 specifying the drugs in question: sumatriptan (an anti-inflamatory to treat the primary symptom)and odansepan (an antiemetic to prevent or treat vomiting). Neither of these are psychotropicor primarily anti-depressant.

Also, I am not sure where she got the information that Bachmann was hospitalized 3 times in 6 months. The doctors letter says "infrequently" and I have only heard reports of one hospitalization. I haven't actually been following this, though, so I could be misinformed, but it would be nice to have a source for that statistic.

The charge that Bachmann's "conservative Christian base" would somehow see this as an example of "pill-popping" is ludicrous. Just another snide attempt to imply that Christians are cruel and irrational. There may be some radical faith-healer types that would disparage the use of medicine to treat a serious condition such as migraines, but here's a little hint to the NYT: radical faith-healers are not conservative Christians. Most of us understand the value of medical science; in fact, you could argue that medical science was pioneered by "conservative Christians" but that is another story.

Saying Bachmann was "admitted" to an urgent care facility three times shows how clueless Ms. Warner is. As others have pointed out, an urgent care facility is not a hospital. Usually it's a spot in a strip mall, between a dollar store and a Mexican restaurant. You go in, do your business, and get out. There's no staying overnight in an "urgent" care facility.

And, for some reason, someone is paying her to "swing forward" to destroy what little votes the religious zealots provide...Isn't Michelle Bachmann trying to show she "owns" the religious zealot votes?

This Carol_Herman meme (i.e. those crazy religious right will be the death of us) is getting tiresome.

I mean look at the havoc they've created:-they've forced gays back into the closet-they've forced abortions into the back alleys-they've enforced prayer in the school-they're apocalyptic obsession with Israel has lead to a complete stop in Arab and Middle East dialogue

I could go on.

(PS You forgot to use the word "Bush" repeated. I mean he was an evangelical and did all he could to create a Taliban-like government in the US, right?)

Leftards are insipid idiots who will stoop to nothing to demonize and marginalize conservatives. Yet totally ignore presidents who were already suffered from other maladies before they became presidents themselves. Total bullshit.

Can we just agree that the left hates women, blacks, jews, latinos, and homosexuals, and uses them as nothing but tools in their ever growing ponzi schemes? They hate you Americans. You are nothing but fodder to them and yet like abuse victims, you keep going back because you think they will change. Douchebags.

What others have said is true: 1)One does not get "admitted" to an urgent care center. You go there to be treated for an acute illness that has not risen to the level of an emergency. Such as, if you get a migraine when you are out of town and don't have your Imitrex or Zofran with you and you need a quick prescription. 2) Everyone's migraines" are different. A migraine need not be incapacitating. Some people have migraines that only consist of an aura and either no headache or a mild headache.

I have had migraines since I was a teenager. I find it easier to deal with them when I can distract my mind with work - especially if it involves talking and engaging with someone else. They are much worse when I am home alone if the occur. I have never considered them a disability. Judith Warner is either being malicious in calling it a disability in reference to Bachman, or she's a wimp when it comes to her own migraines.

Also, as others have pointed out, Bachman released a letter from her physician. He specifically stated that her migraines were not frequent enough to warrant prophylactic medication. I generally don't recommend prophylaxis for people unless they occur more than twice a month or are unusually incapcitating.

Finally, there's this quote from the article "...For someone who has co-sponsored legislation aimed at combating perceived overmedication, the risk of being identified as “on meds” is serious." Translation: "Is Bachman another narcotic popping conservative like Rush Limbaugh?"

Note that mental health posters often refer to Abraham Lincoln's repeated depression episodes as proof that mental illness affects even the great and is no cause for shame. Yet it disabled him, sometimes for weeks at a time.

PBS has a series running about Mary and Abe Lincoln, discussing their respective mental maladies in reverential tones.

Why the republican party thinks this is their "base" ... and not the country club ... also defies reason!

Do you sincerely believe this or are you just being obtuse.

First, I don't believe the republican party picks the candidates.

Second, do you think it might have something to do with who votes in the primaries. Its always the "true believers". If other parts of the Party don't like that then they should come out, work hard for their candidate and VOTE in the primary for the candidate.

I'm not one of those "fighting fundies" but for moderates (of which I am one) or any other faction to complain about those crazy Christians as they sit at home is naive.